Sunday, June 21, 2015

Bumble Bees and RivahFest


Friday, June 19, we cruised to Fredericksburg, VA and the weekly cruise at VA BBQ hosted by the Fredericksburg Classic & Muscle Car Club.  We had two of our granddaughters visit us for the week and we were ready to do some “car” stuff!  We arrived around 4:30 and it was not cooling down yet and the weatherguessers were forecasting rain later in the evening….which would bring cooler weather….yaaaa.  I think the temps went from 164 degrees to 156 degrees, brrrrrrrrr.  Some cars were already parked on the lot and soon others began cruising in.  Kandy brought her cool yellow Bumble Bee Camaro….and was in Bumble Bee Transformer costume for the kids….wow!  You have to check the pictures….  A very kool  SG rose ’35 Ford 2dr sedan joined us with his friend in a yellow C cab replica with a SBF sporting tractor pulling exhaust stacks!  It was a very different sound.  The rest of the 40 or so attendees were the regular crowd….  We stayed till about 8PM when the clouds started rolling in from the NE….really black clouds!  They were rolling like the “Nothing” from the movie “The Never Ending Story”  We would have to drive straight toward them to get home….but we were hopeful we would beat the deluge that was approaching.  We were cruising down the road near our subdivision when it let loose….rain in Biblical proportions….a real trash floater!  We only had about another ¼ mile to go and with no one in front of us to throw up road spray it was going to be OK.  After we garaged the farm truck we cleaned/dried it down and were ready for tomorrow.  Whew….

 
Saturday we left the N. Stafford WAWA promptly at 6:40 and began our 67 mile cruise to Tappahannock, VA and the 13th Annual Antique Car & Hot-Rod Show.  Bill & Jo-Ann (’57 Chevy), Dan & Romana (’55 Chevy) and the Princess & I with our Chevy farm truck left the WAWA.  When we went through Massaponax we picked up Fred & Debie (’57 Dodge) then a few miles further we picked up Bill (23 Model T Speedster)….Denny would join us later at the event with his Gatsby.
The car display is part of the annual RivahFest event.  It’s a community deal with vendors and crafters of all kinds set up on the main street through Tappahannock.  The food vendors usually keep us busy and if you get bored you must be in a coma….there are so many other things to do.  The “car” part of the event is free….the organizers feel that our rides add to the experience of the spectators at the event and they don’t feel right about charging us a fee to help them with their event!  What a concept!  Actually it’s what we do at our annual AirFest in October in Culpeper….stay tuned.  That concept is part of the reason they always attract over 100 special vehicles.  They do have the local chapter of the AACA “judge” the cars and give the winners a special dash plaque and certificate!  The Princess got 2nd place in the “Antique car over 25 years old”….with her side of our farm truck….my side had bird droppings on it from the trees.  I should bring my Model 12 next time maybe….hehehehe  I think Bill Bell got an award for best Model T, decorated with an old guy dressed up like he stepped out of the 20’s.  Or maybe he got it for the best use of a Model T wheel….you have to check the pictures!
One of the neat things about traveling away from home is that you sometimes get to re-acquaint with  friends.  Social media keeps us connected….but electronically.  These chance meetings with friends we have on social media rekindles friendships….such was the case at this event.  We met our friend, Nadine, at a show in Montross, VA a few years ago and have been keeping in touch on Facebook almost daily but haven’t had any face time since that first meeting.  Nadine brought her very cool VW, Bubblelicious, to the event and we had a nice time catching up.  I get to actually ‘see’ Robbie about two or three times a year even though we “talk” on Facebook almost daily….he stopped by to chat a while too.  I like these kinds of interaction when they happen….part of our great hobby.  Our lives may be very diverse but our hobby brings us together….just too cool.  There were many other friends we stopped and visited with during our adventures of the day….
One of the perks of arriving early at this event is that you pretty much get to pick you parking spot.  So all the grumbling about the early start the week before (and actually the morning of the event too) was quelled when we set up under the row of trees on the large grass field.  In my opinion it is the best spot in the event….everyone else commented about how nice it was later in the day when the temp went over ½ million degrees!  Maybe not so much grumbling next year about the start time…..grinning  When we left Stafford the weatherguessers were pontificating about when the slow moving massive storm would reach our area.  It had lightning, hail, massive rain and tornados with it….we really didn’t want to be dealing with it so far from home.  The best guess….yes guess….was that it would arrive somewhere between 3PM and 8PM.  With this in mind we left the event at 1PM and cruised home.  It was an uneventful, although stressful, hour and a half on the road….always searching the sky for a tell tale boiling cloud formation.  The much anticipated storm arrived in Stafford about 8PM….whew.  We had tornado warnings in Stafford which is a rarity….so I did exactly what the warnings said to do….run outside and look for the tornado!  Yup, that’s what I did….good thing we don’t live in Oklahoma….hehehehee  In the end we had a lot of rain, some wind….pretty much a ‘normal’ thunderstorm around here.  It was a very hot and long day for us, I don’t know how many more days like that we have left in us….we’ll see.